Sussex’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast suffered a massive blow as they went down in a low-scoring thriller against Hampshire at Hove.

The Sharks looked hot favourites after restricting their south coast rivals to 134-9 with Chris Jordan taking 2-14 and Will Beer 2-27.

Sussex were never able to really get on top of the run-rate but when Ross Taylor hit three boundaries from the penultimate over the job looked down.

That left the Sharks needing five from the last six balls but Brad Wheal proved the hero for Hampshire as he conceded just three runs to seal an unlikely one-run win.

The result saw Sussex slip to seventh in the South Group and means they will almost certainly need to win their final three games to reach the knockout stages.

Hampshire arrived fresh from a convincing win over Glamorgan the previous night which was a rare highlight in an otherwise miserable NatWest T20 Blast campaign.

It was easy to see why they were rooted to the bottom of the South Group as they made a complete mess of their innings after winning the toss.

Nobody managed to score more than 25 and their hopes of setting a competitive total were further undermined by two farcical run outs. The visitors lost their way badly after looking in a decent position at 41-1 after the six over powerplay.

Debutant Jofra Archer made the initial breakthrough when he had Adam Wheater caught at mid off in an opening spell of 15-1 from three overs.

The wheels began to come off when Sean Ervine holed out at long-off to give Will Beer his first of two wickets.

Two horrible mix-ups followed to leave the Hampshire innings in tatters.

First Tom Alsop was run out for 25 when he was sent back by Liam Dawson and was beaten by the throw from Phil Salt.

Shahid Afridi showed his intent by hitting his first ball for six but was then run out as he set off for a single only for Dawson to stand his ground.

That left a huge responsibility on Dawson’s shoulders to make a big score but he fell on 25 when he hit a low full toss from Ajmal Shahzad to Chris Jordan at mid-wicket who took an excellent low catch on the run.

Jordan ensured there was no late flurry from the Hampshire tail by bowling Brad Taylor and Brad Wheal to finish with impressive figures of 2-14. Chris Nash got Sussex’s reply off to an electric start as he smashed two straight sixes off Gavin Griffiths in the same over.

Any hope that it was going to be a stroll in the park disappeared though when Luke Wright was yorked by Brad Wheal for nine and then Salt followed six balls later for two.

Spinners Afridi and Dawson kept the pressure on and Nash succumbed as he was caught off a leading edge at extra cover for 32.

At the halfway stage the game was in the balance with Sussex on 65-3 and it was hard to pick a winner with eight overs to go and the Sharks 74-3.

The turning point proved to be the return of Tino Best for the 13th over as Taylor launched him out of the ground for a massive six and Machan added two fours to take 17 from it.

The next over from Liam Dawson went for 16 with consecutive sixes from Machan to leave Sussex needing just 28 from the last six overs.

But the departure of Machan for a quickfire 29 – lbw attempting to slog Wheal across the line – changed the momentum of the game once again.

Jordan and Craig Cachopa both fell cheaply and with 12 balls remaining Sussex sill needed 17 to win.

Taylor got that down to five off the final over with three boundaries off the penultimate over from Griffiths.

But Wheal produced a nerve-less final over to seal a sensational victory for Hampshire.

The first three balls went for just two leaving Sussex needing three from the final three balls.

Will Beer was then run out but with Taylor on strike three from the final two still looked very much on.

Taylor failed to get the first one away and although he connected with the final delivery he and Archer could only scamper one.